Root joins fellow stars in IPL auction

England Test skipper and star batsman Joe Root is among 282 foreign players looking to play in this year's lucrative Indian Premier League, the cricket board announced Saturday.

The player auction for the 11th IPL Twenty20 tournament is set for January 27-28 in Bangalore, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) said.

Some 1,122 players will be on the auction block for the eight teams to bid for.

"The list that has been sent out to the eight IPL franchises has 281 capped players, 838 uncapped players, including 778 Indians and three players from the associate nations," said a BCCI release.

It predicted "a fierce bidding war" for Indian stars Gautam Gambhir and Yuvraj Singh, with the likes of Ravichandran Ashwin, Harbhajan Singh, Ajinkya Rahane, Kuldeep Yadav, Lokesh Rahul and Murali Vijay also going under the hammer.

Root will join countrymen Ben Stokes and Eoin Morgan as the biggest names from England, while West Indies legend Chris Gayle and Australia trio Chris Lynn, Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins are also among those expected to attract considerable attention.

Formats only getting further apart: Morgan

While Root is a new IPL entrant and demanding a second-tier base payment of approx. US$235,000, England stars like Stokes and limited-overs captain Morgan will be in the running to hit the jackpot.

England allrounder Stokes, who missed the Ashes after being suspended for his alleged involvement in a pub brawl, was signed for a record $2.16m by Rising Pune Supergiant last year.

South African stars Hashim Amla, who hit two centuries for Kings XI Punjab last season, Faf du Plessis and Morne Morkel will also be expecting high bids.

India captain Virat Kohli will pick up the IPL's largest-ever salary – US$2.7 million – in this year's tournament after his team Royal Challengers Bangalore retained the star player.

Root was so ill during the fifth Test in Sydney that he was hospitalised due to severe dehydration after the fourth day of the match. He bravely left his hospital bed on day five to resume his innings, posting a half-century before the illness became too much for him and he retired his innings.

As Australia completed a victory that handed them a 4-0 series win, Root was asleep in the dressing-rooms.

Root batted in the nets in Sydney this week and England captain Eoin Morgan has confirmed he will play the opening Gillette series ODI at the MCG on Sunday.